Meghan Markle's Timeline to Her Royal Marriage and Motherhood

People have been fascinated with the relationship between Meghan Markle and Prince Harry since they met on a blind date in July 2016. It appears to have been a whirlwind romance, marriage and now they are parents of a newborn.

Their romantic journey is definitely one for the history books. That's because many activities and events during their romance and marriage certainly did make history.

Not many blind dates turn out to be as successful as the one when Prince Harry and Meghan met for the very first time. Before they were introduced by a mutual friend, the first thing Meghan wanted to know was if he was nice. She said if not, the meeting would be useless. Based on what happened from that first meeting, it is apparent that Meghan concluded that Harry is nice.

Even though Harry is a prince and has had global recognition all his life, Meghan admits she didn't know anything about him until they met.

After that first blind date, Prince Harry and Meghan agreed to meet again the very next day. Following their engagement announcement in November 2017, Harry was asked when he knew Markle was the one. He did not hesitate to answer. He quickly said he knew the very first time they met.

Just three or four weeks after the pair met, Harry took Meghan with him on a trip to Botswana, a place that means a lot to him. They camped out with each other under the stars. Harry said it was a special time because they got a chance to get to know each other without any interruptions.

After four months of dating, the news finally leaked on October 31, 2016, that Prince Harry was dating an American actress. Meghan later confessed that they had a good six months together with enjoying the private time before people found out they were dating. Then the speculations, rumors, and criticisms started.

By December 2016, Prince Harry had begun to be seen in London where Meghan was living and Meghan was seen in London where Prince Harry lived. She met Queen Elizabeth who approved of the actress and her relationship with her grandson. That was good because they needed her permission to marry.

When Prince Harry began dating Meghan, she was filming her USA Network series Suits in Toronto, Canada. They maintained a long-distance relationship until she gave up her acting career after they became engaged in November 2017. She moved from Toronto to live with Prince Harry in Kensington Palace in London.

It was no surprise when Kensington Palace officially announced on November 27, 2017, the engagement of Prince Harry to Meghan Markle. Along with the announcement came a formal statement that the marriage would take place in the spring of 2018.

During their engagement interview, both of them were beaming. Prince Harry said the stars were aligned for them to be together. At the time she was 36 years old and he was 33.

Just a week after their engagement was announced, there was an official announcement that the wedding would take place on Saturday, May 19, 2018, at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle.

Even though their engagement had been announced in November 2017, it wasn't until March 14, 2018, that Queen Elizabeth gave written consent for the couple to marry. The written consent of the Queen was a requirement for Prince Harry to marry Meghan.

According to the Succession to the Crown Act of 2013, the first six people in line for the throne needed the Queen’s written consent to get married. Prince Harry was currently sixth in line for the throne so the Queen had to put a literal stamp of approval on her grandson’s request to marry Meghan Markle.

Fans of Prince Harry and Meghan hate to think about what a shame it would have been if the Queen of England had refused to give her consent.

Meghan had to follow a lot of rules before she could marry Prince Harry even though Queen Elizabeth had given her stamp of approval for the marriage to take place. One such requirement was for her to be baptized and confirmed in the Church of England.

The bride-to-be was raised Protestant and she attended a Catholic high school in Los Angeles. Her baptism and confirmation in the Church of England was a requirement just like it was for Kate Middleton before she could marry Prince William.

Meghan also was trained in the royal protocol. Even though she has her on security around her at all time, she took and passed a self-defense class just in case she has to protect herself.

People are still talking about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding that took place on Saturday, May 19, 2018. The day of the week was different because most royal weddings take place during the week so the British can have the wedding day as a bank holiday.

Viewers around the world watched the ceremony on television and thousands waited outside St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle to get a glimpse of the newlyweds.

On their wedding day, Queen Elizabeth gave Prince Harry the title Duke of Sussex and his wife the Duchess of Sussex. She also gave them Frogmore Cottage in Windsor as one of their homes. They left Kensington Palace and moved there in late April 2019.

The couple had been married only five months when Kensington Palace announced in October 15, 2018 that they were pregnant and were expecting their first child in the spring of 2019. When the announcement was made the couple was on their first day of a 16-day royal tour. Their baby would be seventh in line to the throne.

Bets were made and there were lots of speculations about the due day, the gender of the baby and the baby's name. In the end, none of the speculations were correct. In the meantime, the baby was simply referred to as Baby Sussex.

During Meghan's pregnancy, she wore over75 maternity outfits costing over $675,000. Everything she wore sold out within minutes after she was seen in them.

Prince Harry and Meghan let the public know that the birth of their baby would be private. After the baby was born, they did not stand on the steps of the hospital and present the baby to the public as Prince William and Duchess Kate had done when their three children were born. Prince Charles and Diana had also done the same thing when Prince William and Prince Harry were born.

The baby boy was born on Monday, May 6, 2019, at 5:26 a.m. He weighed 7 pounds and 3 ounces. Prince Harry did make a brief appearance later that day and shared that mother and son were doing great and he was "over the moon."

Two days after the baby's birth, the family of three appeared, and the public saw the baby. A day later, the baby's name was revealed as Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor. The parents did not want Archie to have a title. However, they are allowed to change their minds later.

Prince Harry did not take any paternity leave, but he could have. Instead, he went right back to work the day after his son was born. Meghan can take up to six weeks of maternity leave and she can get an extension if she needs one.

She has no royal assignments scheduled. Therefore, she and Archie are not likely to be seen in public until he is christened. Then the public will find out who the godparents will be. Both parents have lots of friends to choose from.

They can choose as many godparents as they like. The Church of England requires them to select at least three godparents. If the baby had been a girl, then at least two females and one male should be godparents. Since the child is a boy, then at least two males and one female should be godparents. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have a lot of friends to choose from. Therefore, Archie might end up with many godparents, males and females.